September, the beginning of Autumn

OurCreature · Post by **OurCreature** » Thu Sep 14, 2023 9:27 pm

Back on 30 August I made a dreadful discovery on my way home from Knightwood - Bella Vita had moved premises! However Toni and Jerzy were there doing the final clear out. The restaurant had moved to Romsey; I hadn't eaten there since my birthday on 9 July so news of their move hadn't caught up with me.

But no matter - after finding them on Streetview I visited them yesterday on my way home from KW. The new-to-them place is very close to a public car park which costs only £1 for 2 hours which is enough time for me. You go in the main door and on the right on the ground floor is an Indian restaurant which I might try at a future time as I like Indian food. Up the stairs on the left is the Funky Flamingo Bar which now houses Bella Vita. Apart from the location and the decor nothing has changed - same staff front of house, same chef, almost the same menu. So I kicked off with a Fevertree ginger beer and that had a bit of a kick - very good. Then I had mushrooms and chunks of crispy bacon in a very hot cheese sauce with 3 small slices of toasted ciabatta. For my main course I had risotto gamberoni which is shelled king prawns with tomatoes and risotto rice; I had oven baked new potatoes with rosemary to go with it and a glass of house white to go with it. I finished with chocolate and vanilla ice cream.

At this point Toni apologised profusely for the fact that they had no coffee machine. An Italian restaurant with no coffee machine! Disaster! The chef feels this keenly - he's a 4+ espresso a day man, and Nescafe just doesn't cut the mustard so far as he is concerned. So no cappuccino for OC. I'm sure this deficiency will be remedied in the near future.

I left £45 with Toni after rounding up the bill, and I'll be back there next month.

Furby · Post by **Furby** » Fri Sep 15, 2023 2:35 am

That's near the aldi which I went to many times was a nightmare car park. Hope the pay car park is better. Buy something at aldi and can get a free car park but too many people have same idea.

Anywhere at all these days without a coffee machine shock horror. Would have thought it was first thing to get or didn't they have one to bring with them. I wouldn't mind much personally but most modern people are addicted to the stuff. Can get those sachets things to make cappuccino and no mess.

OurCreature · Post by **OurCreature** » Fri Sep 15, 2023 7:15 am

That's near the aldi which I went to many times was a nightmare car park.

Correct, Furby. The junction for the Aldi car park is just before the roundabout which gives you access to the pay and display car park. The latter car park is in 2 sections - a small section on the left and a bigger section on the right, next door to the Aldi car park. I went in the small section and there were 2 spaces so I nabbed one of those and paid my £1 for 2 hours at the ticket machine. The bigger section had spaces as well. It helps that this car park is signposted as a short stay car park, so most people who park here won't stay there all day.

The pay and display car park is on the left below the text for public toilets and recycling. The Aldi car park is further right in the pic and is bigger than the pay and display. You can see the restaurant just above the recycling text.

Furby · Post by **Furby** » Fri Sep 15, 2023 12:26 pm

I looked it up on the street view and I think I remember that Indian restaurant though could have been a different name. Back in the day we parked in aldi then walked past a ginnel to the main street where all the banks and shops were and it waa there looked scruffy from outside. I hear the banks are all closed now except the nat west.

Restaurants are taking over towns and every closed bank seems to be a restaurant these days. It's a pity because many bank buildings are quite good looking buildings. Once a place has been a restaurant its only fit for for demolishing once they leave the place. I do keep thinking how can towns survive because even without cost of living how often can people eat out but the restaurants do keep on taking over so I must be missing something. We hear in news they struggle but seems no shortage of new ones waiting to take over its not like shops staying empty or being charity shops at best. One restaurant closes another one soon takes over and every other closed business would be a restaurant without planning regulations stopping some of them.

asymphototropic · Post by **asymphototropic** » Sun Sep 17, 2023 6:56 pm

Merry, what has been your role in The Burnt City?

OurCreature · Post by **OurCreature** » Mon Sep 18, 2023 10:36 am

Brendoncare have made a little video of the gardens at St Giles View and put it on Youtube. You might want to silence the soundtrack as the music is a bit twee.

I am due there on Wednesday to visit the old gentleman - there is a 70% chance of rain at the time of my visit so probably I won't be wandering round the gardens.

OurCreature · Post by **OurCreature** » Mon Sep 18, 2023 6:38 pm

They are dishing out the Covid appointments so I have booked my jab for Thursday this week on the NHS website - they pointed me to a pharmacy near the surgery that's on the way out of Totton, so that means a 2 bus journey because the parking there is very limited.

Furby · Post by **Furby** » Tue Sep 19, 2023 7:11 am

Almost as if they are making it as difficult as possible to get jabs isn't it just like in the early days when it was who could travel to football grounds at a time when people were also asked not to travel and buses had tape over most seats.

I can't really see the point if five jabs still haven't worked even most optimistic doctors must be doubting a tiny bit.

I am too young to get another jab yet I think even for the flu. I foolishly gave them the mobile because it was the only way to get covid jabs before they stated walk in appointment when it got to the young ones who could easily have coped with mobiles it made no sense. Anyway they now send me constant spam texts saying the surgery isnt as bad as Ofsted says etc.

My landline phone is still connected so I can still type this on ADSL. I am in an area where any request for any changes means compulsory full fibre so I am just paying the out of contract and seeing how it goes.

OurCreature · Post by **OurCreature** » Tue Sep 19, 2023 7:33 am

Oops my covid jab is Friday, not Thursday.

Post by **merry** » Tue Sep 19, 2023 10:07 am

Merry, what has been your role in The Burnt City?

I am a mere ghost, one of the 'white masks' (audience) who are invisible to the performers.... except occasionally... I put a post in the last chatty thread about the interactions one might hope for, and sometimes gets - last post here

Juliet and I are off there again today, on a day trip (returning at midnight.) It's been lovely to see Mr M, who survived fine without me, which was very encouraging! I keep reassuring him that he'll get his wife back again full-time after Sunday!

I hope all are well. I will also be back as a full-time HF member after Sunday!

eccles · Post by **eccles** » Tue Sep 19, 2023 2:59 pm

OC, I'm glad you mentioned that you'd got a covid jab booked. I haven't had a peep from my GP's surgery so used the NHS app to check. I booked one from my nearest pharmacy just over half a mile walk away. I may be busy with the camera on Saturday so booked for Monday to allow for the usual arm-ache the following day.

OurCreature · Post by **OurCreature** » Wed Sep 20, 2023 4:13 pm

I had what I thought was an interesting day today. This morning was per usual at Knightwood, though I allowed myself to be persuaded to in future have a chat with one of the KW gentleman residents every other Wednesday afternoon; so that means my Wednesdays are going to be taken up with all day volunteering. I'm not doing any more than that, otherwise it will become like work and I'm not having that. However, an Indian restaurant opens tomorrow in Bella Vita's former premises so I shall give that a try in between my morning and afternoon duties at KW as it is close enough for lunch.

I went to St Giles View to visit my old gentleman there, and his room does indeed have a lovely view over the South Downs; he's on the second floor. There is a numeric password to use the lift. He has much more space to put things like framed photographs and his room is en-suite. He likes it all. We had a look at two Youtube videos of Nicolas Senn and Alessia Heims playing their hackbretts, and one of a supposedly skateboarding cat in Gold Coast in Australia - he liked the way folk turned and had a second look (some even taking pictures) of this talented feline.

We were promised the Deluge today weatherwise, but it only started to rain really hard after I arrived at St Giles View, and it wasn't raining very hard when I went home, so I was lucky.

eccles · Post by **eccles** » Thu Sep 21, 2023 5:18 pm

Odd. I thought I'd posted a reply in this thread but it's disappeared. I probably didn't save it.
I had my covid jab today and was offered the flu jab so I had that as well. I had a bit of a senior moment. On the way out I couldn't find my phone. I asked Mr Jabber if he'd seen it and he said that he hadn't but if I could give him my number he'd phone me if he found it. There was a flaw in that offer because the only phone I had was the one I'd mislaid.
A woman waiting in the pharmacy for her turn had the bright idea to call my number which then rang and I found my phone. I'd put it down temporarily to button up my shirt after getting jabbed and forgotten where I'd put it.
When you get to my age....

I hope you enjoyed your curry OC.

Furby · Post by **Furby** » Thu Sep 21, 2023 6:10 pm

How did they know the number to ring?

OurCreature · Post by **OurCreature** » Thu Sep 21, 2023 6:10 pm

Thanks, Eccs. The Indian restaurant in fact opened today and I shall try it next Wednesday.

eccles · Post by **eccles** » Fri Sep 22, 2023 8:51 am

Furby wrote: ↑Thu Sep 21, 2023 6:10 pm How did they know the number to ring?

I told her the number.

Post by **merry** » Fri Sep 22, 2023 9:24 am

I'm ALWAYS ringing my phone to try and find it!

I have it on silent quite a lot though, so I also have Google's FindMyDevice enabled, which is totally brilliant as it shows you where the phone is (within a radius - so while it's reassuring to see it's in the house somewhere, it's no good for tracking down which room it's in) but where it is invaluable is that it will make the phone ring EVEN if it's been left on 'silent'.

I'm ill at the moment sigh and missing the last performances of the Burnt City. I'm trying to decide if I feel well enough to go today for the weekend and the last ever show, as planned. I've tested for Covid but it was negative, so I guess it's just a cold but quite a nasty one. STPD and Juliet are there without me.

OurCreature · Post by **OurCreature** » Fri Sep 22, 2023 9:50 am

I'm sorry you are unwell, Merry.

I shall deal with the Toughs this weekend.

Furby · Post by **Furby** » Fri Sep 22, 2023 10:29 am

Get well soon merry. So annoying to be ill at important time but is always the way isn't it. We hardly ever get ill when it doesn't really matter so much I have noticed this.

How did Eccles know the number to tell them was what I meant. I don't know either of my mobile numbers. I have them written on a sticker on the phone but that's no use if phone is lost. I have been looking up about landlines as I seem to be in one of the guinea pig areas where they force you to have compulsory fibre to make the slightest change to anything and one list of comments had several people saying we only use the landline to find the mobiles so it's obviously a popular use.

I hope eccles is ok and not suffering too badly with jabbed arm today.

eccles · Post by **eccles** » Fri Sep 22, 2023 10:55 am

@Furby, I don't have a landline so I made it a point to memorise my mobile phone number. I have two additional data sims for my internet. I haven't a clue what their numbers are but they're never used for calls anyway. One thing yesterday made me realise is that if I lose my phone then how am I going to report the loss? I have an ancient Samsung S4 mini phone. It's useless for most apps but texts and calls still work so I might think about getting a PAYG sim for that for emergencies.